MARLENE BRANT-CASTELLANO AT ALL SAINTS HALL, TYENDINAGA MOHAWK FIRST NATION

This evening our KAIROS Quinte group and friends were graced with the wisdom of Marlene Brant-Castellano of Tyendinaga Mohawk First Nation. She is Professor Emeritus of the Native Studies Department at Trent University (1973-1996) and was Co-Director of Research and a writer for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) from 1992 to 1996. She is a prolific author who bridges the gap between academia and the world of her Mohawk people. In addition to LLDs from Queen's University, St. Thomas University and Carleton University, she has been inducted into the Order of Ontario, has received the National Aboriginal Achievement Award and recently has been named an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Promising a short presentation Marlene works with powerpoint slides and speaks in an engaging and informative manner for a good hour or more. She begins with the Blackfoot story of Coyote who as a result of his bad behaviour loses his eyes and must borrow an eye from Mouse. That eye sees only the ground right in front of him. Coyote borrows and eye from Buffalo but that eye only sees to the far distance. Coyote learns that to make his way he must work with Mouse eye and Buffalo eye. Marlene opens up the larger issues that engage the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and she guides us into local concerns of Tyendinga Mohawk First Nation.

She jokes about the reputation that her Mohawk people have for extended oratory. We are a group of 16 people out on a night that promised freezing rain. It is worth the risk.

At the beginning of her life she was puzzled by the lack of respect for "Indian" people. She goes to the heart of the matter: "It's about the LAND!" In order to dispossess the land, the newcomer settlers had to push the First Nations to the periphery and justify their actions by claiming "They are out there because they deserve it." A person who takes the soft approach herself, she understands the anger of the younger people and their insistence on being heard. She sees the stopping of the CNR train over impatience over slow land claim resolution as a statement that "I will be heard."

As I listen to Marlene I think of my Mexican host in San Cristobal de las Casas, Chiapas. He too has taken a soft approach.  Andres, a Tzotzil indigenous person, who had made the transition from the village to the city, understood that it was about the LAND. Not a Zapatista himself, he noted that since the uprising an indigenous person no longer lowers their head and steps off the sidewalk to allow a mestizo to walk by. There is resistance to exploitation by the big companies.

Marlene explains that the treaty with the Crown promised that the Mohawks would not be conscripted and that they would not be taxed. She explains that this provision of no taxation was about preserving the LAND. The land could not be lost for non-payment of taxes. It was the last preserve of a people who had been dispossessed. I think of the land base of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, the ejidos of Mexico established in revolution and attacked by politicians promoting free trade.

There is so much more to say. Let me leave it at that for this blog. 2011 has been a year of learning. My passing over to Chiapas, Mexico for a brief month and a half has brought me back to Canada with a growing awareness of some of the major issues that trouble our country and our people.

REMEMBER: WAKE UP AND GET READY

We who live in Canada should be able to understand this parable of the five wise and five foolish handmaids. It can be a disaster on a Winter night when there is not sufficient fuel in the tank.  Most Canadians have spent each year of their lives getting ready for Winter. We are all about being ready for it when it comes.

Frost on the roof-tops, drop in temperature as each day is colder than the day before, gardens harvested, eating supper after the sun has gone down, leaves falling and lying brown and withered -- something is happening and are we ready for what is coming? Foolish handmaids, wise handmaids -- oil in the lamp, heating oil in the tank. And what about the car? -- change to the winter tires. And the cottage? -- clear the water from the pipes.

I've been reviewing tips for closing down the cottage for the winter. Yes, we have to pull the dock up before the river freezes.  However, the big item is the plumbing. We have to close the pump, drain the pipes, make sure that the water heater tank is properly shut off and emptied, empty the toilet and tank and then pour in some non-toxic chemical to seal off the sewer gases. Food items need to be brought home. Liquids that might freeze should be brought home. I still have a bit of painting to do -- but that paint should come south to be stored in a warm place for the winter. Anything of value that might be a temptation for thieves should be removed.

Most people close their cottages at Thanksgiving. We are trying to extend the season and will hopefully be like the five wise handmaids and we will move quickly to close before freezing temperatures can do their damage. The parable is speaking to me.

I must admit, however, that as I have heard this parable over the years I have wondered why the five wise handmaids did not share their oil with the five foolish handmaids. Isn't sharing a good thing? Of course, it may not have been considered a good thing if the light from the lamps needed to be extended over time to allow the bridegroom the time to settle in.

It strikes me that the parable might have been a challenge that Jesus put to the people of his time.  In contrast to our highly individualist culture the people of Israel felt their salvation to be a matter of the group, the people.  Salvation comes to the nation.  But Jesus has something contrary to say with the parable.  Being ready is not solely about the people's readiness as a whole; it is also very much about our individual readiness.  Or perhaps I might say that the People comes to God one person at a time. 

The five wise cannot share with the five foolish because when it comes to welcoming the Bridegroom (the Messiah Jesus) there is a sense in which each one has to do that for themselves. It does not work to drift into a relationship with Jesus -- hoping that we will be carried along by the crowd.  No, each one of us is invited to stand up for ourselves, to live at the edge, challenged to respond, called out of passivity and inaction.  Salvation is about the people as a whole, but it is also about the individual choices that we make.  It is wisdom to be prepared to have oil in your own lamp.  Work to be prepared without expectation that others will do the necessary for you.  We do it together but no-one can do it for us.  

Do you remember the 1961 film, The Guns of Navarone?  I watched a clip on YouTube: Gregory Peck to David Niven: "You think that you have been getting away with it all this time, standing by, well son your by-standing days are over ...."

For some reason as a teenager that film made me want to work for peace -- to commit myself.  Our celebration of Remembrance Day should be done in the spirit of those who recognize that passivity, inaction, leaving it to others, failure to ask questions, lack of engagement in the politics of our time, are at the source of war.  We are not ready for the coming of the Bridegroom if we are not ready to engage the troubles and issues of our time.  No matter our age or station in life, we are all capable of asking questions, of struggling to understand, of reaching mature judgements and acting responsibly.  We are all gifted with the ability to grow, to develop, to contribute and to be peace makers.  Let our lamps be lit and let us live with the vital energy that expects the coming of the Bridgroom.  In Jesus name we pray.